National Sport

Brough snatches draw for Giants

Huddersfield captain Danny Brough kicked a last-minute drop goal to snatch a draw against Warrington and end his side's 10-match losing run at the hands of the Wolves.

In a thrilling second half at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington fought back from 23-6 down to edge in front with the aid of two tries in four minutes from prop Ben Harrison.

It looked to be enough to snare both points but Brough had the final say, landing his second drop goal of the game to tie the scores at 24-24 and keep alive his side's hopes of retaining the Super League leaders shield.

The point lifts the Wolves into third place in the table, just three points behind leaders St Helens, who face a tricky test at Leeds on Friday night.

However, there was some justice for Brough, whose eight points enabled him to climb into eighth place in the all-time Super League list, and hooker Shaun Lunt, who scored one try and created two others, with neither men deserving to be on the losing side.

Warrington started and finished the match at the Halliwell Jones Stadium strongly but the visitors were the better side for long periods in between.

With veteran Michael Monaghan causing all sorts of trouble with his mazy runs from dummy half, Warrington dominated the opening exchanges but only had stand-off Gareth O'Brien's 18th-minute try to show for their efforts.

That followed a sustained spell of pressure on the visitors' line and O'Brien's conversion made it 6-0.

Starved of the ball in the first quarter, Huddersfield were forced to rely on the boot of Brough to get them out of trouble but the game turned on a remarkable eight-minute spell in which they scored three converted tries.

The first came in fortuitous fashion, loose forward Chris Bailey getting a touch to the ball after Brough's grubber kick rebounded off Monaghan.

Promoted stories

It gave the Giants just the encouragement they needed and the platform for Lunt to demonstrate his devastating threat near the tryline.

First the former England number nine sent second rower Ukuma Ta'ai charging over for a try, and then forced his way over himself from dummy half.

Brough kicked all three conversions and slotted over a drop goal on the stroke of half-time to put his side three scores in front at 19-6 and leapfrog former dual-international Iestyn Harris in the Super League scoring chart.

Lunt struck again three minutes into the second half to keep his side firmly in the driving seat.

He collected Richie Myler's grubber kick two metres from his own line and beat three defenders before sending left winger Jodie Broughton on an 80-metre run for a spectacular try.

Brough was off target for the first time with the goalkick and it went on to prove crucial, as did the substitution of Lunt on 52 minutes.

Huddersfield lacked direction in the absence of their inspirational hooker and Warrington seized their opportunity.

Atkins pounced on O'Brien's slide-rule kick for the Wolves' second try and then it was Harrison's turn to take centre stage.

He barged his way past three defenders to touch down on 61 minutes and four minutes later produced a similar effort, although it took several replays before the video referee decided he had reached the tryline.

Share article

O'Brien took his goal tally to four to edge his side back in front and winger Rhys Evans almost clinched the win when he flew over at the corner six minutes from the end, only to lose the ball and knock himself unconscious in the process.

It set up a tense finish, with Huddersfield's England centre Leroy Cudjoe intercepting a Monaghan pass to set up the position for Brough to land his second drop goal of the game.

Promoted Stories

Comments

Sorry, an error occurred.

Post a comment

Remember you are personally responsible for what you post on this site and must abide by our site terms. Do not post anything that is false, abusive or malicious. If you wish to complain, please use the 'report this post' link.

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standardards Organisations's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a compaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here